{healing}

Wednesday, April 4
 
This, by far and wide, has been a day I will never forget. It started out as we normally would: 8am wakeup/9am departure. Linda and I were put into a group going to visit the hospice instead of building. We made our way around the courtyard walled by patient rooms, visiting, praying, comforting all of them.

Five of the male patients were gathered in a small sun room. I thought we'd just be hanging out with them, but it turns out we were assigned to help get them cleaned up. I cleaned, trimmed, and filed all of their nails as well as put lotion on their arms, Charlie and Linda helped shave their beards, and Maria Susanna kept their minds company, filling them with joy through her spoken word.

I can't tell you how humbling that was. And how much courage it took those men to allow us to take care of them that way. Had I been in that position, I might have had too much pride, or been too stubborn. To help someone in such an intimate way was an amazing. I've never been put in that situation before. Definitely challenged myself.

After the hospice our small group went to lunch at a restaurant in town to try the famous Peruvian ceviche. What a luxury it was! Not going to lie, I felt a little bit guilty to be sitting in an air conditioned room, drinking cold soda, and indulging in the best ceviche that I've ever come in contact with. It's so odd that I would expect this in the states. My point of view, already, has been totally altered.

For the rest of the afternoon we went to one of the building sites to finish the house. When we got back to the church, I was exhausted. The long days and lack of sleep had caught up to me. Everyone was rushing to shower and dress before mass started, but I had decided to stay in tonight and rest.

Just as the last few missionaries were leaving for the service, one of the church members asked me "Aren't you going to mass?" I replied, "No, not tonight." She asked (in a bit of a perplexed tone), "Why wouldn't you go?" I brushed it off with the excuse that I was tired, and not feeling up to it.

A few minutes later, Caleb (who is a remarkable soul; came from the states to live in Piura for six months, just because he felt called to), approached me asking if I was going to mass, again I said, "no." With a face that said nothing less than how could you sit here and miss out on this? Caleb replies "Why not?" again I brushed it off with the excuse that I was tired. Shrugging his shoulders, Caleb walked away, down the stairs to mass.

At this point, I'm completely guilt-stricken. The moral debate of "should I skip mass or not?" bouncing around in my head. For two strangers to come up to me, and only me, and ask if I was coming to mass...that was too weird for me, too coincidental. So I got up, quickly changed into something nice(er) and ran downstairs.

Let me tell you, God works in mysterious ways. Even before this trip, I had been yearning for a service with the sacrament of Adoration. Guess what? Tonight was the monthly healing mass and the one time all month that they have Adoration. How is it possible that I am here only one week, yet it's the week they have the healing mass? How is it possible that I was dead set on not going to mass tonight, yet the words of strangers sparked something in me to go? How is it possible that I had been seeking adoration for weeks now, and the night my mind was set on missing it, I ended up in the middle of it? God is good. God is good.

Dios te bendiga :)